This is What She Saw

07 July 2018

Neutrogena Acne Proofing Gel Cleanser and Facial Scrub | BrandBacker

Neutrogena Acne Proofing Gel Cleanser and Facial Scrub | SamiJoie

Hey, hey!

I'm so happy I got to work with @neutrogena on this post!

Why?

This was my go-to brand when I dealt with painfully embarrassing acne in high school. It was accessible, cheap, and effective -- it's an ACE brand because it lived up to its promises.

And this line that they recently came out with is NO EXCEPTION.

It was honestly, in my opinion, fate that I got to work with Neutrogena to promote and try out this line, because I was having difficulty with my skin since the season charged. The summer humidity hasn't been kind to my skin. My face has gotten oilier, and I've been having little breakouts here and there.

Fun.

And then the #AcneProofing gel and scrub showed up in the mail!

My inner skincare-holic screamed when she saw this. This could be the answer to her skin prayers!

Why I didn't purchase it in the first place is because I've been playing it safe with my face by using products I already had that I knew would do their thing but with some time. From prior experience, I know that salicylic acid can be super drying, hence I stopped using it for a while after high school. But after using it for the past few weeks, I think it's safe to say that I can use it in the summer with sunscreen, of course!

Ingredients

Acne Proofing Gel Cleanser

Active Ingredient

Salicylic Acid (2%)

Inactive Ingredients

Water, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Sodium Hydrolyzed Potato Starch Dodecenylsuccinate, Fragrance, Sodium Hydroxide, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Panthenol, C12-15 Alkyl Lactate, Disodium EDTA, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Benzalkonium Chloride

Acne Proofing Daily Scrub

Active Ingredient

Salicyclic Acid (2%)

Inactive Ingredient

Water, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sorbitol, Cellulose, Sodium Hydrolyzed Potato Starch Dodecenylsuccinate, Acrylates Crosspolymer-4, Panthenol, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Microcrystalline Wax, C12-15 Alkyl Lactate, Benzalkonium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Talc, Yellow 5 Lake, Red 30

Packaging

The gel cleanser comes in a bottle with a pump (which I love) while the scrub comes in a tube with a flip cap. It's plain and simple, making it easy to use the products!

Thoughts

Let’s start off with the scent: The scent reminds me of anything that’s bamboo scented. It’s just fresh and clean smelling. (Wow, SJ, that’s really descriptive…) I don’t know, really, but I do know that I like the scent because it isn’t overpowering.

As a whole, I found the products to be effective. I tested them out for a good three weeks, borderline four by the time this post goes up, and I can say that it has helped me get my acne under control. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been shying away from products where the headlining star is salicylic acid because I know how dry it makes my skin. With this product, it’s a different story since the people at Neutrogena made sure that this would have a gentle yet effective formula. They made sure that this wouldn’t further irritate a damaged skin barrier, therefore preventing your skin from having any more problems than it already has and letting it heal while treating it! (For further insight, I suggest checking out Liah Yoo on YouTube. She does a splendid job discussing the problems of having a damaged skin barrier and how to recover.)

Post wash, I noticed my face felt a little dry, pretty much normal if I had normal skin and a little taut (I use this loosely because I know what it’s like to have dry skin post face wash). It didn’t bother me since I would go in with the rest of my skincare routine and my face would be back to my normal.

The texture of the gel cleanser is as it says; it’s a gel. The scrub is gentle and not abrasive on the skin. I feel like the beads are larger than other scrubs than I’ve tried, so there isn’t as much but it still allows for gentle exfoliation. Don’t quote me on this, it’s just what I’ve noticed! Let me know if I’m wrong or not, I’d like to know, because I haven’t used a physical exfoliator in a while.

For me, however, I wish there were more beads. I like that it’s easy on the skin, but maybe it could use a little more to make it seem like I’m actually exfoliating my skin. I dunno -- maybe I’m just a sadist when it comes to physical exfoliation? Maybe I can actually hear those dead skin cells screaming when they’re being sloughed off?

(Sami, they’re dead -- what the heck?)

All in all, I’m going to give this duo a

4.5/5 stars

Because I like the packaging, scent, and found them to be effective. I mean, I’ve been using them for the past almost

month, so I should know by now if they’re worth it or not.

And, honey (snaps fingers in the air), I can tell you that they’re worth it. Sure, I got one or two massive zits during the time I used these, but those were on the days when I didn’t wash with them in the evening or just washed my face in general at the end of the day.

If you’re interested in trying these out for yourself, you can buy them at any drugstore or supermarket for under $10 a piece! At this point, they’re seriously worth the money.

If you’ve tried either or both of these out already, what did you think? Lemme know in the comments! Also, mention your skin type so that people in your tribe can read and/or share their experience with these products!

-- s.j.

FTC: I was sent these products by BrandBacker and Neutrogena in exchange for my honest opinions.

10 June 2018

Pup Review: Pet Magasin Pet Travel Carrier

posted by SamJoy Jordan em: lifestyle . Pet Magasin Pet Travel Carrier . travel

Yep, you read that title correctly: My pup Dex is the one doing the reviewing this time!

Okay, so he can't type, but you can tell when your baby doesn't like something based on their reaction to a product, right?

Right.

With that established, let's get to today's review of Pet Magasin's Pet Travel Carrier.

What is it?

As the title says, it's a pet traveler for both cats and dogs (not together, of course) that is airline approved. It has soft padding (including the strap), plenty of ventilation and a sturdy bottom with feet. I love the blue and black design of it, and the fact that it's collapsible so you can store it easily when it's not in use. The back part of the carrier has a pocket so you can store anything little like your pet's favorite treats, toy, or wipes if anything happens while you're traveling. And, if anything does happen on the inside or even the outside, the carrier is made of waterproof material making it easy to clean. Finally, there's a short leash inside to prevent your fur baby from escaping.

Dimensions

17.2 x 10 x 11 inches & 2.2 pounds

Pet Magasin Pet Travel Carrier undone

Velcro straps to close and flatten the Pet Magasin carrier

Close-up of the interior of the Pet Magasin Carrier with short leash

Nifty little pocket at the back of the Pet Magasin Carrier!

Thoughts

I love how sturdy this carrier felt! I haven't had a need for a pet carrier for Dex, but if ever I need one, it'll have to live up to this standard. Every bit of this carrier was made with love, from the feet on the bottom to the short leash inside, and the waterproof material! Sadly, the carrier is too small for Dexter. If only it were 2-3 inches longer! I still give it 5/5 bones because it's a quality product, though.

Where to get it

You can purchase this product from Amazon here for $23.97 USD in either the blue that's show or in orange!

What's your favorite pet carrier for when you're travelling?

s.j.

FTC: I was sent this product via Brandbacker in exchange for my honest thoughts. I am not gaining any revenue from the product! If there was any revenue generated from any products I feature, though, just know that all of it goes back to creating content for this blog. xoxo SamiJoie

26 April 2018

Favorite Drugstore Dry Shampoo for my Asian Straight Hair

posted by SamJoy Jordan em: drugstore . dry shampoo for asian straight hair . haircare . hask dry shampoo

A rare photo of SJ gleefully jumping (the shutter speed was slow enough to capture this)

You might be wondering why I'm bouncing around in this picture. It's because, when this was taken, that was my fourth day hair! And, yes, I still had waves from Sunday night's Asian Student Union's Heritage Celebration Dinner featuring the Youtube famous Wesley Chan as the keynote speaker!

(Let's be real here: I'm probably bouncing because I still can't believe that I met someone that I never thought I would since WHO COMES TO INDIANA IN THE FIRST PLACE? And because I've watched Wong Fu since I started my channel back in middle school and look up to them.)

So why is this such a big deal?

(The hair. Why is the hair such a big deal?)

To all of my fellow ladies and gents who have straight hair, we all know or are familiar with how greasy our hair gets within a day or less after washing. Some of us end up looking like Snape within a few hours, and that's not flattering at all no matter how good of a man he was.

Oh, Snape... If only you knew about dry shampoo...

We've sought help from Google for remedies. Many of the posts told us to cut back on washing our hair multiple times a week or to switch to the no-poo shampoo method. Eeek. Been there, done that in my hormonal teenage years! That was not fun or comfortable or fashionable or... (list goes on).

Cutting back on shampooing my hair felt like I had greasier hair after a week, so I quit the routine despite being told that it takes weeks before my scalp would learn how to produce a normal amount of oil by itself. I couldn't wait, and I'm sure many of you felt the same. So then I tried the no-poo shampoo method using apple cider vinegar. It was the oddest feeling knowing that I was willingly pouring this pungent liquid on my scalp to cleanse it and restore its pH. (I still shudder knowing how disgusting I smelled post shower.) To keep it short, the results were the same as cutting back on shampooing and I quit early on in the trial.

Fast forward a few years past high school and into university. Yes, it took me this long to figure out how to work with my hair, but it took me a couple of months ago to finally get it to the point we're at now.

Anyway, I learned that if I curl my hair with second day hair, I can go another day without greasy hair. Why is this? It's because curly hair doesn't get greasy as fast as straight hair since the curls keep oil towards the roots. This means that hair oil won't travel as quickly through your hair when you have a little wave or curl in it.

After figuring this out, I started curling my hair more often so that I could make it to third day hair. But then this presented another problem: heat damage. I didn't like how rough my hair was becoming, so I learned how to do heatless curls. The problem was, though, it sometimes took more effort than it was worth with my silky hair that everyone around me tells me they envy.

Please don't envy it. It is a pain in the arse to deal with when you want to braid it or put it into buns.

In the end, at least early in my undergrad (say sophomore year?), I learned that I could curl my day two hair and have decent hair on day three by using dry shampoo. Doing this would typically carry me throughout the third day but wouldn't last to see a fourth day.

SJ circa 2014 with greasy second day hair. Wow, my brows were thin.

I began to wonder if it was my hair being resilient to the dry shampoo or if I wasn't using the right one. And so began my journey through homemade and drugstore brand dry shampoos (because when you're in college, it's unrealistic to be dropping money on dry shampoo instead of your books). Baby powder or a mixture of cocoa and cornstarch worked for a bit, but I didn't want to smell like either of those all the time. Then I found Batiste and settled with it, but I didn't enjoy it because it made my hair clumpy and unnatural looking; it worked for the time being.

It wasn't until a couple of months ago, last year, when one of Tati's videos was recommended to me. I watched it when I was getting ready for school, and in the video she went on and on about Hask's dry shampoo. Which one, I don't remember, but she talked about it enough to leave an impression on me.

So the next day I grabbed a bottle at Walgreens.

I may have bought this one because it looked pretty...

And, honestly, I've never looked back. I can't wait to purchase another bottle (or is it can?) for when I finish mine. I love that it has a fine mist that disperses the product evenly. The scent, chia seed, is light and far from being overpowering. It's fresh without smelling like the typical cotton fresh, if you know what I mean. It's just a wonderful product that's made without any parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and artificial colors; just all around pure goodness that refreshes your hair when you don't feel like washing or have a grease problem because your hair is so freaking straight.

Hask Chia Seed Dry Shampoo Ingredients List

Ingredients List on the back of the bottle

I learned that if I curl my second day hair, and spray my third day hair with this the next morning, my hair can go up to day four or even five without needing to be washed. Does it give me volume like the name, Chia Seed Volumizing Dry Shampoo, suggests? That's debatable, but it does the job at keeping the oil at bay.

Now, you may be asking, "But, SamiJoie, what about straight hair? Does it work for your straight hair?"

The answer to that is, "Yes, yes, it does. It does the exact same for my straight hair as it does for my curly."

Color me impressed. 😍

Did you know that the charcoal version of this dry shampoo has Allure's seal of approval? I think that's the next one I'll try when I finish with the chia seed.

Have you tried any Hask dry shampoos? What are your thoughts? Have you tried any of their other products? If you want to read about another product I tried from them, check out these posts:

The Smell of Kalahari Melons in Georgia | Hask Beauty Shampoo Review, First Wash
Days 2 and 3 with Hask's Kalahari Melon Shampoo, Conditioner, and Hair Oil | Review

-s.j.

Indianapolis, IN, USA

17 April 2018

Flower Beauty Petal Pout in Poppy (shade 100) Swatches & Video

posted by SamJoy Jordan em: beauty . flower beauty . flower beauty petal pout in poppy pout swatch . makeup . makeup swatch

I am so excited to share this lippy with you since it doesn't seem to get a lot of hits online. I did a quick search to see if there were any swatches for this particular shade when I was grocery shopping, and it seemed pretty non-existent. So, here it is, a swatch of Flower Beauty's Poppy Pout Matte Lipstick.

Sleek and pretty packaging. The tube is unique.

Appearance

Let me start this off by saying that I love the packaging of this lippy. It's sleek and pretty in its rose gold tube and white base. Very #aestheticgoals, no? Also, the shape of the tube adds to its sleek appeal: it's a half moon so it will lie flat against any surface. No more rolling away!